The present invention is related to a method for continuously feeding and fixing a plurality of tubular fasteners one by one to a plurality of apertures provided in a support panel or a plurality of aligned apertures in superimposed two or more panels, with the use of a fastener assembly consisting of a plurality of head-to-head connected tubular fasteners in assembly and also to a method for carrying out said method.
According to the present invention, use is particularly made of so-called pull-lock type, blind fasteners or rivets consisting of a shaft with an upper head and a lower flange and a flanged collar tightly surrounding the lower portion of said shaft on the lower flange of the shaft.
In the locking operation, the collar of said fastener with the associated shaft as a whole is fixted into an aperture provided in a single support panel or aligned apertures of superimposed,two or more panels until the undersurfaces of the upper flange of the collar securely rests on the peripheral edge of the aperture and then the shaft is forcibly pulled upward through the collar, while said upper flange is kept to securely rest on the peripheral edge of the aperture, so that the collar wall collapses to radially expand between the undersurface of the panel and the lower end flange of the pulled-up shaft. Thus, the aperture of the support panel is securely locked with said tubular fastener. In case of two or more panels, they are securely fixed in an superimposed fashion with the aligned apertures being securely locked with the thus collapsed tubular fasteners.
More particularly, the present invention is related to a method for continuously, automatically, and efficiently locking a plurality of apertures provided in one or more panels with the use of a plurality of tubular fasteners connected to one another at their upper heads to form an assembly, without damaging the fasteners during the locking operation.
Heretofore, locking operation with the use of so-called pull-lock type blind fasteners required a very complicated operation including a step of inserting a plurality of fasteners into the corresponding apertures of a panel or panels into which they are to be fixed, a step of securing the undersurface of the flange of the collar of each fastener on the marginal area of the aperture and then pulling-up the head of the shaft to collapse the collar to radially expand and a step of severing the remnant portion of the pulled-up shaft that projects from the upper flange of the collapsed collar.
Therefore, an apparatus having a simple structure and a compact size for carrying out the above-mentioned fastener locking operation has not yet been realized owing to the above-mentioned complicated operation.
Furthermore, thickness of support panel and dimension and diameter of fasteners used largely vary depending on the desired locking operation, so that it gave rise to a great difficulty to provide a method and apparatus capable of suitably adjusting thereto to achieve the aimed purposes.
The present invention is therefore to provide an efficient method with less working steps by overcoming the above-mentioned prior technical difficulties as well as an apparatus for carrying out said method, yet with a simple construction and a compact size. Therefore, the main objective of the present invention is to provide a working tool with a very simple construction and a compact size so that it may be used even as a portable type tool, giving rise to appreciable industrial merits.